Zarozhar
Origin Zarozhar (pronounced - za - ro - zar), ''The All-Seeing, Consumer of Faces and Terror of the Night. These are just a few of the titles of Zarozhar that the people of Azura have come to know in all of the passing years since Zarozhar's appearance in the human realm. Zarozhar was said to be one of the first demons to cross through into the world of Azura along side his brother Scuamar ''(scar - mar) , a demon warlord in their land who saw the crossing into the human world as an oppurtunity to branch out his army of terror. Zarozhar at the time of crossing was said to be a scholar in the demon realm, he taught and trained his brother's army in harnessing their natural ability to wield mancy. Zarozhar's Father, Zagmuhr (zag - muh), an old demon warlord of the past was easy to pick sides when it came to his sons. His father highly preferred his other son, Scuamar as he wished continue in his father's footsteps of becoming a warlord himself. Zarozhar refused to follow the pure chaotic path of his father and had much rather gain power through knowledge, seeking to become a scholar. Zagmuhr was outraged and angered at his son's decision and treason to his father's name and had punished him for his 'selfish' act. As punishment, Zarozhar had lost his eyes, some say they were removed from their sockets whilst others say his eyes rolled to the back of his head, thus still allowing him to see but through other means. The second theory is more believed as survivors of Zarozhar's nightmares describe him as having solid white eyes with no pupil to be seen. After losing his vision Zarozhar sought to reclaim it by any means possible as without his eyes, he had lost all that he yearned to become. It did not take long for Zarozhar to despise his father and brother. It took Zarozhar believed centuries to become accustomed to the blinding curse, some saying that he even knew how to read with just his finger alone. During his time constantly blinded in darkness, it was known that he had harnessed multiple mancies in isolation from the ones who ruined him. Zagmuhr soon found out about Zarozhar's magical capabilities and allowed him to step onto the path of becoming a scholar through teaching his brother's army of darkness the powers he unravelled. Once it became known, that there was a rift that allowed the demon and spirits to travel into the newly discovered human realm. Zarozhar became interested and ventured towards the great rift that had been opened, coming out of the other-side in the great human world of Azura. Through his years of exploring these new lands, it is believed that the first ever man to see him went by the name of Lecwen Son'geor, a human merchant in the prospering city of Dormia. The story states in believed to be Lecwen's own words, "There it stood, a tall slender figure, taller than the greatest oak in Dormia. ". Though Lecwen's words seem to be an exaggeration as in multiple pieces of scripture from those who believe to have seen with the demon themselves state that he is only slightly larger than themselves. It is hard to narrow it down but in most visual depictions of Zarozhar, he appears to be the size of a normal man. Tales and stories of the hooded and faceless demon-man slowly spread through-out Dormia, passing from mouth to mouth. One man, Theodmar Hes claims that he befriended Zarozhar himself and through this friendship was taught 'blood-magic', as Theodmar had described it in several manuscripts. This appears to be the first evidence of Carnomancy being brought to the humans from the demons since the beginning of the era of demon and spirit. Theodmar soon became known as a truthful source of Zarozhar existence, recording the stories and plights that he had told him. Theodmar Hes had written the majority of manuscripts on Zarozhar, quickly becoming a well known but despised author in Dormia as his scripture spoke of Zarozhar luring men and women only to have their faces ripped from them or to be cursed with sleepless nights and eerie nightmares of Zarozhar himself. No one has actually ever seen the demon's face, not even Theodmar. Though through stories and pictures, those cursed with nightmares of Zarozhar say that they have seen his horrifying and disfigured face revealed to them. These were all nightmares however and it is impossible to say that any visual depictions of Zaroszhar's face are real or not. Theodmar mentions many times in his writings that "Zarozhar see none, but see all." It later becomes known further into Theodmar's final book that Zarozhar was after only one thing, his true vision. He exclaims that he will never stop the sacrificing of human lives until his vision is restored. This was however later twisted as time went on and Zarozhar's Monks, a cult of Zarozhar worshippers far after the destruction of Dormia believed that sacrifice allowed them to be closer with Zarozhar's vision. Enabling them to someday restore their own "true vision" as Theodmar had described it in his books. This was obviously not what Theodmar had meant, but Zarozhar's Monks have since believed otherwise. After the final days of Dormia, Theodmar's death was unwritten. He was presumed to have been killed like most others in the destruction from the mysterious light during the attack on Dormia. Zarozhar was also presumed to have died in the destruction but others say that Zarozhar is still alive and seeking his vision. Most of these rumours are based off of the risen cult, Zarozhar's Monks as his actions are rumoured to still carry on in their name, though there is no evidence of this besides some children who have strayed too far from home. It is unknown if Zarozhar is still alive but some still claim to see him in their dreams, causing terror and sleepless nights. Appearance It is written that no one has ever seen the face of Zarozhar since he arrived in the human world, not even Theodmar Hes, the closest a human has ever been to Zarozhar. There have been several artistic depictions of Zarozhar's appearance and face from those who have encountered him in nightmares and those who have been lucky enough to see him from a safe distance. The most common depiction of Zarozhar is a tall figure wrapped up in a dark black (sometimes red) hooded robe. It is common for paintings, drawings and writings to describe the horrific nature of Zarozhar's face. In most visualisations you will mostly see his face depicted in fantastical and grotesque ways. As it's never documented that these artists have ''really ''seen his face, it is safe to assume that they are all dramatisations of the nightmares those who he had cursed. Symbolism In a specific manuscript by Theodmar Hes, he writes about the rituals and sacrifices that Zarozhar had done throughout their eerie friendship. On a certain page, there is a very rough symbol is painted in ink and described in the book to be "Zarozhar's Vision", "The Seer Eye of Zarozhar" or plainly "Zarozhar's Eye" .